Evaluation and characterization of some exotic plum germplasm accessions for fruit quality traits

A study was undertaken on 17 exotic plum germplasm accessions during the year 2009–2010 under Nauni-Solan conditions of Himachal Pradesh. The data were recorded on 19 fruit quality characters comprising 15 metric and 4 non-metric characters. Based on the evaluation and characterization of fruits, some plum varieties excelled in major economically important traits. Fruit weight varied from 14.40 - 62.19 g, TSS 11.00–19.20° B, sugar:acid ratio 0.7– 3.75 and pulp:stone ratio 19.10 - 49.10. As many as six germplasm accessions had fruits with red purple colour, four grey purple, three red, two green with red blush, one yellow and one yellow orange with red purple blush. Only four genotypes viz; Frontier, Azarshah and Queen Rosa produced fruits of desirable quality.